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How to use command line arguments

For Windows users

Go to "Start -> Run" (On Windows 7/Vista, press "WindowsKey+R" or use the search box at the bottom of the Start menu) and enter the file path and file name of the application, followed by the command line arguments. For example,

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -ProfileManager

(including the quotation marks). In this example the file path to the installation directory is C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox, the file name of the Firefox application is firefox.exe, and the command line argument we are using is ProfileManager. You should place a hyphen (-) directly before each command line argument that you wish to use.

If you regularly wish to start your application using command line arguments then you can also create a shortcut on your Desktop which includes them. To do this, right-click on an open space of the desktop and choose "New -> Shortcut". Follow the wizard to create the new shortcut. When it prompts you for location (not name), type the file path and file name followed by the command line arguments, exactly as in the example above.

For Linux and Mac OS X users

Open a Terminal window and type what you want to execute. On Linux, the shortcuts to your Terminal window will vary in location depending on your desktop environment. On Mac OS X go to your Applications/Utilities folder and choose "Terminal". Enter the path to the application, then a space, followed by a hypen (-) and the command-line argument. For example, to start the Firefox with the Profile Manager on Mac OS X, you would enter the following: